


Rogue soldier 209

by Acereack



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Androids, Bounty Hunters, Crime Fighting, Crimes & Criminals, Cybernetics, Cyberpunk, Dystopia, Evil, Evil Plans, Fantasy, Gen, Giant Robots, Government, Government Agencies, Government Conspiracy, Mechanics, Police, Robots, Science, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28489548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acereack/pseuds/Acereack
Summary: A sole warrior, told to complete an impossible task by an army that wants him to fail, as he overcomes his own brainwashing to see the truth in the world, a deeper. darker secret is unlocked.





	Rogue soldier 209

People always tell you it comes easy. That although the build-up is hard, the actual act takes a mere second. Once its done, its done, no taking it back, no regrets, its over. For a few blissful seconds afterwards I was free, for those seconds, it was the safest and most free I had ever felt.  
I floated from thought to though, desperately trying to reach the light before I was dragged back again. Because they would drag me back. It was all black in here, there was no light at the end of the tunnel, no heaven, or hell. Just eternal peace. I lay on my back, and just thought. My mind was completely occupied, just thinking about my past, about my future. Of course, I had no future. And for those few blissful seconds, I forgot.  
But I felt the drugs begin to kick in, I was being pulled back. A creature of white began to drag me out of my bliss. I clawed and kicked and begged, but it would not give up. I had no choice in the matter, and I was pulled back into the light.  
“Tut tut tut.” I heard a deep voice say, I began to blink my eyes, was everything always this light?  
“And for the second time this week as well. When will you learn Morgan?”  
“Fuck off.” I said.  
“Now I won’t have that.” The voice said with a snarl.  
I hadn’t even opened my eyes properly yet, but I could see a fist coming straight for my face. It slammed in, and I felt my nose crack and break. I fell of the hospital gurney and crashed to the floor. My loose robe gave me no protection, and it hurt as I fell.  
Before I knew it, his foot was meeting with my ribs, and I curled into a ball. But the kicking and beating did not stop. He left me finally to bleed and cry on the floor.  
“Pick yourself up you disgusting animal.” He said, and spat on me.  
He kicked me again, “I said get up!”  
I let out a whimper and climbed to my feet. I clutched my ribs, and felt blood trickle down from my nose into my mouth. I tasted the tang of iron as it filled my mouth. I looked him dead in the eyes, turned to the side, and spat on the floor.  
“Officer Morgan reporting for duty.” I recited in a monotone voice.  
“Better.” He said, seemingly pleased, but there was still a twang of anger in his voice.  
“Get dressed, you’re needed.”  
“Yes sir.” I replied.  
I went over to the side of the bed and picked up the small stack of clothes. The man left the small room, and went outside. I sat down on the bed, and eased myself out of my robe. I did a quick check of myself, broken nose, god knows how many ribs, and countless bruises.  
Every movement felt like fire shooting through my limbs, and as I got into uniform, I did not cry out, he would win if I did.  
The tight-fitting black uniform hugged my body, and as I walked, it pressed against my wounds. I felt my eyes filling with tears, but still, I did not cry out.  
I secured the beret on my head and stood up. I straightened my uniform and wiped my nose, here came the painful part. I had to crack it back into place. I cupped both sides with my hands, and moved swiftly to crack it. It felt excruciating, and I let out a muffled groan. I wiped away the blood from my face, and walked out the room. Leaving the robe on the bed.  
He was waiting for me outside.  
“Took you long enough, follow me.” I felt embarrassed, I hadn’t managed to get a proper look at him yet. He was a normal, I didn’t know they allowed normal soldiers.  
I towered over him, and beat him in every physical way possible, so why was he beating the shit out of me.  
He led me down a corridor, no windows. There wasn’t much point of windows here, it was always dark anyway. Tharani was a rogue planet, it orbited no star. It simply floated. We walked for a short while, he glanced back occasionally to see me in pain, but I kept a straight face and walked directly behind him, looking ahead.  
“In there.” He said, and indicated to an office.  
I opened the door and walked in, I snapped into salute and waited to see who was in there. The door closed behind me, and there was still no one there.  
I stayed in salute and rattled off again. “Officer Morgan reporting for duty.”  
A small man came in from the side, saw me and smiled. It was the commander.  
“Ah, of course, please take a seat.”  
He indicated to a small chair opposite his desk. He sat down and waited for me.  
“I would prefer to stand sir.”  
He smiled again.  
“I told you. Sit the fuck down.” He said, still smiling.  
“Yes sir.”  
I sat, and he looked at me for a few seconds, his hands together in front of his face.  
“What the hell were you thinking?” He said, standing up and placing his hands on the desk. “I mean really, what was going through your head when you decided to do it.”  
I began to speak when he interrupted me, growing more and more angry as he spoke.  
“What the fuck was running through your stupid, tiny mind when you thought it was a good idea to put a fucking pneumatic drill through your skull!” He slammed his fist on the table, smiled, and sat back down. He indicated for me to speak.  
“I am not aware of what possessed me at the time, but I assure you that it will not happen again.”  
He laughed lightly.  
“Now I would usually believe someone who said that. Except that this is the 5th time you have come in here and said the same bullshit. I want you to answer properly, do you want to die officer? Do you really want to see what’s on the other side?”  
“I would rather be over there than here sir.” I replied.  
“What would make you want that. Run me through it.”  
“Sir I would rather spare you the details.”  
“I insist” he said, slightly sinisterly.  
“Very well sir.” I leant forward slightly in my chair, I wouldn’t hold anything back, what would he do? Kill me?  
“I tried to kill myself with a drill because that was the only thing I could use. I wanted to kill myself to escape the fucking hell hole you’ve put me in to. I was born specifically to fight, and I don’t want to fight. I’m no fucking pacifist, but I would rather have something to live for. And seeing as there’s no chance of that, I gathered that the best path to being worth something was to end my miserable existence.”  
I leant backwards and waited for his response. I waited for him to yell at me, or to call guards. But he stayed silent for a while.  
“Worth something?”  
“Yes sir.”  
“Do you want to be worth something officer?”  
“Very much sir.”  
“Then I advise you to pick your fucking chin up, and go look at the files on your desk, there’s something that needs doing.”  
I sat there, expecting a briefing.  
He indicated for me to lean in slightly, as if he wanted to whisper something in my ear. I leant in and he whispered to me.  
“Now get the fuck out of my office.”  
I stood up to attention.  
“Thank you, sir.”  
He didn’t respond and I left. There was no one in the corridor now, I guess that was it.  
I went back to my office. I say office, it was more of a little nook in the corner of my domain. I had control over 100 soldiers, and I trained them hard. I had a separate office and dorm, and countless other bonuses. I walked past the other officers who were sitting in the mess, and into my office. I closed the blinds and looked at the file at my desk.  
I switched on the small desk lamp and opened the file, it had in big lettering on the front.  
“Operation Dark sun.”  
I shrugged it off, they always gave stupid nicknames to this kind of stuff.  
But what I read in there, the horrors that this little file contained shocked me beyond belief. There was a population of 200,000 on this planet, half of which were civilians.  
They had realised that there was a traitor among our ranks, someone feeding information to the other side. But they were not fond of long drawn out investigations, and peace talks.  
They intended to leave the planet with a select number of proven loyal officers, and exterminate the rest. The way they phrased it in the file made it seem like this was the only option. But at the very end, on the final page, they presented an alternative.  
“However, if you are able to find the traitor within 2 weeks, the operation will be called off, and the extermination can be cancelled.”  
It presented me with a list of all known details about the traitor, of which there were very little.  
“the traitor has been given the name, ‘soldier 209’ and must be caught. If you are successful, you will be dismissed from active service, and granted a new life.”  
I had been handed a way out, and all I had to do was catch one guy.  
The only known information was their rough age, gender and where they came from. Around 30-35, male, and they were from a central planet called Promethium, I had never heard of it, I would have to read up on it.  
It also gave me an incredibly hazy photo, and it showed an old military photo of a squadron. It had circled a man in the far left. He wore a hat and sunglasses, so it was practically impossible for me to find it out from that.  
This was impossible, I had 200,000 people to sort through, and there was only one guy. I opened up my computer and began work.  
I began to narrow it down, I gave the age range 30-35. That gave me 80,000 people. Male. 40,000. Half the people in the service were female nowadays. I put in that they were from Promethium, which gave me only 10 people. Too easy, if it was those 10, they wouldn’t need me. I showed the computer the photo, and it did the same thing again. It matched facial structure with the known records, and showed me everyone who matched it. In a few minutes, I had the number down from 200,000 to 1,000. But they must have already done that, there was something about this I didn’t like.  
Why give me a file like this, if it really was this easy, they could have just checked out those 1,000 people, and found them within the day. I checked the file again, and found no reason why they would need me. I continued to flip through it when I noticed something.  
It was an old trick, it was used hundreds of times, and I had even used it on occasion. You would hide other information in the file itself. It meant that the person would fail the mission, and then you could say that they had the information, as it is actually in the file. It was known as an MFF, or a Mission Fail File.  
I used my knife to cut into the paper binding, releasing another sheet of paper that I read. Now that made sense. The person I was trying to find wasn’t a person, it was a droid. An enemy controlled droid that passed information.  
But that made sense, what didn’t make sense was why they would make it a fail mission. You only used that when it two main occasions. When it was a minor mission, and you wanted to punish the person doing it, or it was a recovery mission and you didn’t want the person saved. But there were 200,000 lives on the line here. Why the hell would they want me to fail, they had already punished me, so it could only mean that they wanted to exterminate the planet. But why?  
I wouldn’t get any answers by asking, so my best bet for now was to find the droid, and get information from it.  
I once again put the same information into my computer. However, there was 500,000 droids on the planet. But it was easier to classify them.  
30-35 years old, most of the droids here were very new, so it dropped right down to 10,000 straight away. The gender thing was useless, but it eliminated the droids used for more adult purposes.  
9,000. The fact that It was from Promethium saved me, dropped it to 500. I showed it the photo, and it began mapping again. It must have been an android then, made to look human. It gave me a grand total of 4.  
I had done it. At this point I would usually hand this over to my superior and they would send people out to investigate. But since they wanted me to fail, I had to do this myself.  
They would be mapping where I was going, so I had to be careful. I got details about all the places I would find them, and wrote down anything that was important, and destroyed the file.  
I picked up my jacket and went out of my office again. I wouldn’t be coming back here for another few days. I would go to the infirmary first to get myself fixed up, and then I would head out.  
I glanced down at my notes as I walked.  
One droid was in a hospital, one in a factory, one in active military service. But it was the last that made me wish it was one of the other three, it was at the space port. There was no way I could do some covert stuff there; it was the busiest place on the planet.  
“Got yourself pretty knocked up then.” Said the nurse. She was pressing various areas of my chest to see where it hurt.  
“How did you do it?” She asked.  
“I fell.” I responded.  
She wouldn’t believe it, but it was the standard response to a civilian in case of a punishment.  
She gave me a few pills to manage the pain, and wrapped it with bandages.  
“Give it a couple of days and you’ll be fine.”  
“Thanks” I said as I left.  
I signed out my ship, but didn’t take it right away, I needed to talk to the commander first. He needed to be briefed.  
“Just how long do you think it will take to find him?” he asked.  
“Not long sir, I do request a small unit of soldiers to help me in the search, there is an awful lot of them.”  
“Very well, I can allocate you 20.”  
“Thank you, sir.”  
“Just one thing before you leave.”  
“Yes sir?”  
“I’m pleased you’re taking to the project; you’ll get your soldiers tomorrow.  
“Thank you, sir.”  
Talking to him made me sick, but I had to lie, they couldn’t know.  
One of the droids was working not far from here, the one in the factory. It was only about 2 hours’ drive, and I could make it back to meet the soldiers tomorrow. Why not.  
I went and got the ship; it was an old Hawthorne. Bog-standard, but functional. I plugged in the co-ordinates and went. I pulled out of the hangar and into the pitch-black skies above the base, because there was no sun, it meant the area had a lot of artificial light. They had giant lighting rigs in the sky that illuminated the ground as if it was day. But once you pulled above them, it became dark.  
That was one of the good things about being a Cyber, you could just switch off. I leant back in the seat, and let my programming take over. I was a Cyber, half human half robot. I could let either side take over. When I was fighting, I relied on the human mind but the robot body. But if I needed to defuse a bomb, I let the robot take over.  
I let the robot drive me there, and it woke me up when we arrived. It had landed outside, and I pulled open the door. Before me was a towering building that dwarfed anything on the base. It had to be kept low on the base, or dogfights might crash into it. But out here, they could go as high as they want.  
It must have been 500 stories, and 5 city blocks wide. It wasn’t just patients they were treating in here, but because it was technically under the army’s law, they could use more, niche research techniques.  
I walked towards the building, there were no lights overhead, or windows in the building, just a looming black shape towering up into what seemed like the open sky.  
It was a massive open area inside, I could see all the way up to the top, but it wasn’t a normal kind of void. Where there was light illuminating it, and windows looking over it. It was simply a hole, that went all the way up. For such a huge room, it felt incredibly claustrophobic.  
It was dimly lit, not like the normal bright white of a regular hospital, my boots made a large echo as I walked across the large open space. It was completely barren, except for a desk on the opposite side of the room.  
I went to the front desk, managed by several droids. They sat in chairs and tapped away at their computers, they had no need to do so, but I guess it was to put me at ease. I showed them my badge and gave them the details of the droid I was looking for. They gave me a pass that would take me to the room I needed, and I left.  
I took the lift up to the 283rd floor, and walked along the long winding passages that would lead me to the retina department. I didn’t want to know what they were doing to the prisoners they brought in here. There were countless hundreds of departments, each one different, I saw some that had patients, but the large majority of them were conducting research.  
I bumped into a few droids along the way to ask if I was going in the right direction, and they were always helpful. There was something about this place I didn’t like, if I had the time and resources, I would investigate. But I didn’t.  
It was just turn after turn along the same, dim corridors. The only thing lining the walls were the occasional wire, or the labels of the departments. But those were for the benefit of the humans that came here, not the robots.  
It took me a good half an hour before I made it to the area. I showed my card and the same information to the droids there, and they showed me again. Even just walking through the department it took another 10 minutes. I heard the occasional scream, and had to block them out. I was on a mission here, more important things to do.  
I came into the department I needed. I asked the manager and they pointed me towards a droid on the far side, they were using a scalpel to cut into an eye. I didn’t know if it was human or not, but I didn’t want to know.  
“Officer Morgan, investigation department. I’m going to need to see your files.”  
The robot did not respond, and kept cutting.  
I repeated the same line, to no response.  
I placed a hand on its soldier, it flinched slightly and muttered.  
“Get the fuck off me half-life.”  
I picked it up by the throat and slammed it against the wall. Everything else went silent, all the machines had been turned off, all eyes on me.  
“What the fuck did you just call me.” I strengthened my grip as I said it. It wouldn’t choke, but I could still do some serious damage here.  
It didn’t reply, and looked me dead in the eyes.  
“Well I don’t need you to respond, I just need to see your files. If you do not allow me to, I am permitted to use force.”  
It nodded, and I let it go. It walked over to the table it was working on and got a wire. It plugged it into its chest and then the other end into me. I started scanning for any evidence that attached it to the traitorous actions.  
Nothing.  
It had been working here since it was made. And had never done anything that could induce it to be afraid of me. Unless…  
“You have nothing to hide. Why would you do that then?”  
“I thought you were here to dismiss me. I am getting old Afterall.”  
I looked at the robot, it had no reason to lie here. Unless it was hiding something, it didn’t want me to find out. I didn’t have the time now, but I made a mental note to come back here if I ever got the chance.  
“Very well then. Thank you for your… co-operation.”  
And with that, I walked out. As soon as I left the room, the usual bustle of the department continued. It wouldn’t stop until something else happened. I went out the way I came and walked back down the corridors. My boots dully thudding against the concrete floors. I went back a different way; I might as well do a small bit of investigation before I get back.  
But it was all the same, just various different departments. I saw the occasional patient, and they nodded at me as I walked past. There was a different department for every possible part of the human body. But there was one department I saw that I didn’t recognise.  
It was called AHR, it stood for Advanced Human Robotics. I glanced at the sign, and I was about to leave when something inside caught my eye. I saw a cyber. Someone like me, I creaked open the door, and there was no one else there. The cyber lay on the table, with only a hospital gown over them.  
But it was one very specific thing about the person that made me come into the room. They weren’t just a cyber. They were me.  
A perfect copy, even down to the finest hairs, they looked exactly like me. What the hell was going on, why would they need a clone of me. I ran possible answers through my head, but I could only come up with one feasible solution. They intended to kill me.  
If they killed me, they could have this cyber replace me, and no one would ever know the difference. I looked around the room, looking for any details that could help me confirm this. But I found nothing.  
I looked up for a split second, and then back down. I pulled out my gun and shot. There was a fucking camera. There were no cameras in any of the other rooms in this entire place. I had been looking. They had wanted me to find out the fail file. They wanted me to come here, they wanted me to see this. I had been set up this entire time.  
I slammed my fist against the table, forming cracks in the concrete. They had been tracking and watching me this whole time. I was so confident that I was ahead, I was always looking behind me. But I was trailing in their dust. I had no other choice now. They had a tracker in my arm, and they had me on the ropes. I had to go rogue.  
I took off my jacket and placed my hand on the table. I pulled a few tools across. I had a plan. As soon as I pulled the tracker out, they would know. I guessed they had people following me, so they would enter the building immediately. That gave me an estimated 5 minutes to get out before they reached this room. But the process would take 4. I had 1 minute to get out of here.  
I began. I ripped it out, and it fizzled and died. I began tying and welding the wires back together, and occasionally glancing up at the clock. I was going too slowly, I had to hurry up. I wired them all together, it was a shoddy job, but it would hold for now.  
I closed the panel, and flexed my hand, still worked. I put on my jacket, holstered my gun and ran out the room. I unplugged my clone so they couldn’t use it, and ran.  
I sprinted down the hallways, running from an enemy I couldn’t even say for sure was there. The thudding of my boots was too loud, but I had no other choice. I turned corners quickly, doors and the overhead lights whizzing past as I utilised the robot parts speed as much as I could.  
I reached the stairwell, too risky to take the lift. It went down so far, I couldn’t even see the bottom, with a massive space in the middle wide enough to take a ship through it.  
I had a choice here, I could either take the long way down using the stairs, or jump down the middle and catch myself by using rockets. I was about to take the long way when I heard the thudding of boots behind me. There were several of them, and I heard them shouting.  
I took a few deep breaths and rocked back and forth. Then I did a slight run up, and leapt over the edge. I quickly began to accelerate, I was monitoring my speed using the rockets, but I was still going far too fast.  
I calculated the possible solutions, and came up with one. I would grab onto the side to stop myself from falling, I would lose the arm, but I wouldn’t die. It was the best I could come up with.  
I fell for what seemed like an age, the wind whipping through my hair eyes as I fell further and further. I saw the floor come up to meet me, and I grabbed onto the side. The arm came clean off, and I slammed into the wall, and then the floor. I had lost the arm, and the wiring lay exposed, and I had badly broken the structuring in my leg.  
Well shit. I couldn’t use this body any more.  
I dragged myself across the floor, I heard the gut-wrenching sound of metal on concrete scrape away. I had come down too far, this was the basement. I saw a door outside of the staircase and pulled myself towards it.  
I reached up for the handle, it was too high. I sat myself up and tried again, my fingers slipped, and pulled it down. I went through the door and closed it behind me. Just as I heard quiet echoes from the top of the building as the soldiers burst in.  
It was pitch black in here, and I reached up for the light switch and turned it on. The lights slowly flickered in different areas, giving me glimpses of the room, before flooding it with light. It wasn’t really a department, but it was filled with old droids. Perfect  
I pulled myself up onto my working leg, and hopped over to the nearest table. I leant on It for a minute and caught my breath. I noticed a piece of equipment in the corner of the room that would save my life, but it would need some work.  
I tried something out.  
“Computer? Give me a system diagnostic.”  
There was a strong chance my internal computer had been damaged, but it was worth a try.  
“Responding.”  
It was online  
“left arm lost, right leg in serious damage, damage to chest, head and right arm. Suggested body change.”  
I pointed towards the corner.  
“Could I use that?”  
“We most certainly can”  
Sitting in the corner was a large box that contained a conscious transfer machine. It would let me transfer my conscious into another being. The problem now, was that I had to find something to transfer me in to. I placed my leg up on the table and sat up.  
I had to get it off, it was only a hindrance to me now. I picked up a sharp piece of metal I had found, shoved a large piece of cloth in my mouth and prepared myself. Usually I would just cut off the nerved for that part and go ahead. But the damage done to me meant I couldn’t. I just had to do it.  
I began to saw, it was jagged, and didn’t cut well. Although I was cutting through metal and pipes, it was sending signals to my brain all the same. It hurt like it as well. The realistic nerve endings helped when you got hit, so you could tell where it was. But they hurt like hell.  
I worked through it, and I was slowly cutting through the tough armour of my leg. Each stroke with the blade sent fiery pain through my leg and into my brain. I kept telling my brain it was synthetic pain, and that there was no real threat. But the pain told it otherwise.  
I had gotten halfway through and I couldn’t take it any longer. I hopped off and kept the broken leg on the table. I placed the cut just over the edge, and slammed my hand down onto my thigh. The metal wrenched and creaked, but did not break. I tried again, and still, it stayed on.  
I tried once more, and put all my weight behind it, and the leg came clean off. I was in pain for a short while, but the computer eventually realised that I no longer had a leg, and no longer had to send pain signals.  
I picked up my leg with my hand, and threw it away. I hopped over to the machine, and began pressing various buttons. I was following the computer completely, and it was working well enough. All I needed to do now, was find a body that worked.  
I needed it to be strong, but also quick. I scanned the room quickly, and saw nothing that worked, but on the second scan, I remembered something. I had the clone. The one I had left in the hospital room. All I needed was a body that could get me there, and take the clone back down.  
I scanned again under those parameters, and settled on a worker droid. It was used to move heavy machinery, and would work well in a fight if I came across one.  
I dragged the machine across to it; it was far too big for me to move. It lay on top of a mound of other ones, it was heavily rusted, and its head had fallen forwards.  
I attached the machinery to the robot’s head, and then mine. I started the procedure, and I sat down, expecting some quick process and I would suddenly be in the robot. But what actually happened was far from the truth.  
I was awake one moment, looking over at the machine to see if it was all working, and the next I was gone.  
I felt myself being carried along by the force of a strong river, a surge of colours surrounding me. Those colours were eventually swallowed up by a brownish rust like colour. I was satisfied though, and I let the flow take me as it would.  
Everything was red. My systems booted up, and it began to scan the room systematically. I lifted my head up, and let it fall backwards. I raised my hand to my face to see if the process had worked. It had.  
In front of my face I saw the giant metal hands of the worker robot. I tried to stand up, and did so, but immediately bumped my head on the ceiling. It was bigger than I thought.  
I raised myself up, and hunched over so I could stand properly.  
It was about 5 metres tall, far larger than my previous body. I flexed the various body parts to see if they worked, everything was working fine actually. I had expected a lot more damage, but it all worked.  
I pushed myself through the door, breaking the structure in the process. I stood up straight for the first time in the stairwell.  
It was huge, it had powerful legs and arms that could easily bend steel, and its robust torso was made of near solid steel. It didn’t have any weapons however, which was a problem for my plan.  
I picked up my old body, and crunched it into a small ball. It felt strange and wrong, even if I knew it was dead and had no conscious. But I needed it, it had my id in it, and my hands were too big to just pick that up. I placed it in a small compartment in my chest, and moved out.  
Ok then, new plan. I couldn’t go back for the clone now; I was just too big. All I had to do was get out of here for now. Then I could work on finding a more battle-ready body. I had no idea how far below the ground I was, I could be a hundred floors down for all I know.  
I racked my brains, it had nowhere near the processing power of my old body, and I was struggling. I could only go up the stairs and try to find the ground floor, then make a dash for it when I did.  
The powerful legs of the machine lifted me up the stairs easily, and I was several floors up within seconds. But there was still no door out. Why had they built this place, this basement filled with robot parts so far beneath the surface. Unless.  
“Computer, run a radiation diagnostic.”  
“Detecting dangerously high levels of radiation, suggested departure immediately.”  
I was on a ticking clock; radiation did terrible things to robots. Let alone my old body.  
I continued to climb, but I still saw no door, just staircase after staircase of concrete walls and small steps.  
I finally came across one far above where I had come from. I opened it slightly, and saw one of the trademark hospital corridors. As soon as I went out there, they would know I was here. But then they wouldn’t. They had no idea I had changed body, they wouldn’t realise straight away, which gave me time.  
I pushed open the door and walked out, I found a doctor walking along, and asked him where the exit was. He looked at me confused. I tried again, but only a sequence of beeps and whistles would come out.  
He continued to walk and I called after him, but he still couldn’t understand me. Now this was a problem. I had no way of communicating to find help.  
I walked along the corridor, leaving rusty footprints behind me, and making loud thuds as I went. I wasn’t exactly being subtle. I found the sign for an exit, and walked further. I began to pick up pace as I got closer and closer. Until I burst out into the main reception area I had come in from.  
I made a mock salute to the droids at reception and began to sprint towards the glass doors. They slammed a button that quickly dropped down barriers. But I kept running. I pressed my shoulder forward and slammed into the barrier, I came clean through, and shattered the glass on the other side.  
Now they would definitely know I was here. I ran over to my old car, and took out the body from my chest. I uncoiled it, took the jacket off with the badge and put it in the car. I put the jacket in the same compartment, and put the body in the car. The computer in the car understood me, and it shot off with the body inside. That should throw them off until they look at the security cameras.  
I made a dash for the forest behind the hospital, and quickly reached it. it may be large, but it was surprisingly quick. I jumped into the undergrowth, and laid down. I turned back to look just as the soldiers burst out of the building and saw my car flying off into the distance. They quickly got into theirs and followed it. Now I had a bit of time.  
I moved further into the undergrowth. All I needed to do now was to find a more suitable body, and I had no idea where I was. I tried to get up a map on the computer, but it wasn’t designed to do that, all it could do was lift heavy things and scan.  
Dammit, I was pretty much fucked at this point.  
There was no fucking way I could complete the mission at this point. If I tried to go anywhere, I would get recognised and killed. If I stayed out here, I would eventually be found and killed. There was nothing I could do. I was completely at the mercy of the universe here.  
If I was going to die, why not at least go on my terms. That’s what I had always told myself, it was a tough life in the army, but if it ever gets too tough, or if my life was on the line. I didn’t care about glory, if I was going, I was going because I chose to go, not because someone chose for me.  
I tried to scream to let my anger out, but once again, only a series of beeps and whistles came out. There really was nothing I could do. At least not here. I moved further into the forest, before turning around. This was what they wanted, they had been watching me this entire time, this was how they won. If I killed myself it would just be another rogue cop gone bad. But if I uncovered whatever the hell they were trying to hide here, it was game over for them. I did have a choice. The choice of victory.  
I turned back to the hospital; I needed that clone. I guessed it would be entirely deserted now, I could just walk in and grab it. But that was rash, they would probably have guards outside, if I wanted to win here, I had to play it cool. I would head back to the capital, and find a new body. I couldn’t just go back in there; I would throw It all away.  
If I had my bearings right, the capital should be along the valley that went east from here. I turned the robot towards it and set it to run, and I let my mind rest. It was a long walk, even at the speed I was going, it was still incredibly far away.  
I ran along the valley, following the river that was slowly moving along. I climbed mountains and even reached snow. But still the robot kept plodding on. I had to stop every now and then to do a system diagnostic, but it still worked well.  
It felt like minutes before I reached the outskirts of the capital, but in truth, I had been running for hours. I would usually say something like how the sun bounced off the buildings, making it look like a crystal city. But it was still dark, and the eternal smog of the city plunged it into a deeper darkness.  
I ran through the suburbs, past the small number of houses that were here. I knew someone that could help me. They were experimental, and it was risky, but that was the kind of thing I needed right now.  
I knew where to go, and I headed straight for it. I slowed down as I got further into the web that was the capital. The buildings all loomed ahead, and the sky was filled with ships of all size and shape. The ground was strangely deserted.  
It was filthy down here, dirty and grimy, and sunlight barely reached down here. Most of the street lamps were broken anyway, giving the occasional glimpse at the world ahead. But it was not a good glimpse, just more of the same.  
I snaked my way through, each street seemingly the same apart from the numbers illuminated on the doors. I eventually found the door I needed. Number 4,684. It was burned into the back of my mind so deeply, it was carried over with me with the same effect.  
I knocked and the door opened. Now all I had to do was remember the next 2 numbers. Floor and room number. I racked my brains and looked at the numbers on the lift, floor 95, and room 23. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I put my bets on it.  
I squeezed my massive frame into the lift, and It creaked and groaned as I moved up. The lift was tiny, and was decorated with bleached and old posters. They depicted military propaganda, and advertised various things you didn’t actually need.  
I arrived at the floor; it was just as much of a shithole as the rest of the building. Just like the rest of the lower city, it was quiet. I walked along the corridor, my shoulders scraping the sides, and my head bent over slightly to fit down the narrow hall.  
I came to the door, number 23. I knocked, and it echoed within. No reply. I knocked again, and the door came ajar, it was open.  
I went through, it was completely silent, not a single noise came from within. It opened into a workshop, filled with tables and machinery. They would usually have to put it on the ground floor in case of a fire, but new safety regulations meant they didn’t have to.  
I flicked the light switch, and what I saw shocked me beyond belief.  
The room was filled with bodies, absolutely filled.  
They had been impaled on hooks, hanging from ropes, shot and stabbed. People of all ages dead in ways I never thought possible.  
Their blood caked the floor in a thick paste. It covered the walls, and the desperate scratching of paint by nails was apparent.  
Nothing I had learnt in any academy had ever prepared me for this. I jumped backwards into the wall and began to shake. At least my mind did, all the robot did was emit a couple of beeps.  
I collapsed against the wall, and looked around the room. I didn’t even know any of these people, not a single one.  
But it wasn’t just adults, I saw a young boy who couldn’t be any more than 15 stabbed in the corner, and lay slumped against the wall, with his head falling into his chest.  
What kind of monster would do this.  
I heard a chuckle from the darkness, and I jumped to my feet and walked towards the noise.  
“Who’s there?”  
“You always did have a conscious.”  
“Who the fuck is you, why would you do this?” I said, walking towards the voice.  
“I told you to stop, didn’t I. You big filthy animal, and do try to speak English. I can’t understand this fucking robot speech.”  
Fuck it was him, the guy that had woke me up before. Who had beaten the shit out of me.  
I ran towards the noise and slammed it into the wall. But there was nothing there. I turned around, listening carefully for another noise.  
“All these people, they could have been alive right now. Happily living their lives. But you had to go and ruin it. Ask yourself this. Is it really worth it? Is this little mission of yours worth their deaths?”  
Where the fuck was, he.  
“Because I will find you. I will come for you, and every single person you have ever met. But if you hand yourself in, we can handle this like men. How does that sound?”  
I will find you.  
That same phrase ran itself through my head, and there was something about it my mind didn’t like.  
He hadn’t found me.  
He wasn’t here.  
But he was coming.  
I had to get the fuck out of here, and I had to do it now.  
I ran out of the room, using everything in my power not to think about the bodies as I ran past. I stopped for a second and thought about what I had heard. Maybe It was for the best if I handed myself in. I claimed to be doing this mission to save lives, but so far it had only resulted in death.  
I heard a slight coughing from the far side of the room. I wheeled around, expecting to see the man there, with a gun pointed at my head. But I saw nothing, I moved a little bit closer and saw a woman slumped up against the wall struggling to stand up.  
She was pushing against the wall with her back and sliding up, leaving a red imprint as she went.  
I moved towards her and helped her up, my massive hands easily lifting her to her feet.  
“It’s you aren’t it?”  
I turned my head to the side perplexingly, I wouldn’t try to speak, she wouldn’t understand.  
“I’m insulted Morgan. Don’t you remember me?”  
I kept my head tilted, and she laughed slightly.  
“This is because of you, you know, that right?”  
I lifted my head up straight and took a step back.  
“I don’t mean it like that. Just finish the job ok? But that doesn’t excuse these deaths. Why the hell would you come here. I hope you realise what you’ve done.”  
She said it with real menace, and slumped to the floor again, dead.  
I desperately tried to remember who it was, an officer? A friend? I truly couldn’t remember who it was.  
I moved to leave again, before I saw another machine in the corner. I looked up at the clock, I reckon I had enough time, this would be the only chance I got. I went over to the machine, it worked.  
I had to find a body, but there wasn’t a droid here, and I had no choice but to go human. It haunted me to my very core, but I had no other choice. There was no way I could finish the mission in this body, I just couldn’t.  
I turned my head and immediately saw the perfect body. It was a large man with well-kept brown hair. No defining features, perfect. He had almost no injuries, the only one I could see was a stab wound to the stomach, but I could fix that.  
My moral compass was going insane. Everything inside me was yelling at me for even considering it, but deep down, I knew I had to. I lifted him up, he seemed so small, so pale, so… dead. My mind was in the midst of a breakdown, but the body stayed firm, and picked up the body and placed the tabs on his head. I placed them on mine and sat down. I looked over at the man.  
“Sorry. Sorry for everything.”  
I flipped the machine on, and it worked quicker than last time.  
I was once again floating in a river, all brown. But as I became human, the colour returned once again, and I was surrounded by a beautiful rainbow.  
I was shocked awake, and looked down at my hands. Human. It had worked again. I got up quickly and tested my limbs. Big mistake, he had lost so much blood I felt myself go faint almost immediately. I managed to drag myself over to the robot and grab my jacket from the compartment.  
I took out a tiny needle from one of the pockets. I took the small lid off and held it up to the light, it was good.  
I lifted up my shirt and pursed the wound between my fingers, I pressed the needle in, wincing, it hurt so fucking much. I let out a small scream, before covering my mouth, I had no idea how close they were.  
The wound immediately began to heal itself, and the area around the wound began to surge with colour. I lent back against the wall for a small bit, before once again heaving myself to my feet. I still felt weak, but that was bound to happen.  
I was just wearing a t shirt, and I put my jacket on, and fastened it tight to hide the bloody shirt underneath. I picked up a gun I saw on a near table and put it in the jacket pocket. I shoved my hands in the pockets and left.  
I left quickly, closing the door behind me and taking the same lift down as I had taken up. It was a smoother ride down, as I weighed about a tonne lighter.  
I had learned something special during my training, and it wasn’t something that everyone could do with ease. I shut off my emotions. I was crying inside, I was panicking and breaking down. I let my body do the work, took a deep breath and handed over to instinct. I wouldn’t try to use logic, or reason, that was how they had got me before, I had only one way out of this. To solve whatever the hell I was trying to solve. Then all these deaths would be for something.  
The lift creaked to a stop, and I walked out, I immediately jumped to the side, and hid as I saw a lone soldier enter the building. Oh fuck, he was young. Id pin him at no more than 20. This was going to be the hardest thing I ever have to do.  
He asked someone who was just leaving where the lift was, and walked over to it. He pressed the button and waited, facing the doors, rookie mistake.  
I crept up behind him, and pressed my gun into the back of his head.  
“Drop it.” I said, with firmness.  
He immediately dropped his gun and wheeled to face me.  
“You’re the one they’re looking for.”  
“Let the lift go kid, leave and don’t tell anyone.” I said, with less firmness this time. He was even younger than I first thought, 18 maybe.  
“I think we both know that’s not going to happen.” He said, trying to sound tough, but his fear came across clearly.  
“Then you leave me with one choice.” I said, firmness completely gone, I was speaking to him as a human now.  
He broke down, and started crying. “please, just let me go up to the room, I swear I won’t tell anyone I saw you.”  
“I’m sorry kid.” I said, starting to tear up as well. My hands were shaking and I closed my eyes.  
“Please, I’m begging you.”  
If I let him go, he called for backup and I was dead within seconds.  
I turned away slightly and pulled the trigger; I heard a loud thud as he fell to the floor.  
I began to shake and cry. My breathing got heavier, and I opened my eyes to see him looking up at me, with a hole in the middle of his forehead.  
I tried to cut off my emotions again, but I failed miserably. All I could do was run, I ran out of the building and out into the street. I picked a random direction and ran; I ran and I ran.  
When I stopped to catch my breath. I had no idea where I was.  
I leant up against the wall, and as my heart beat gradually returned to normal, so did the thoughts. They came surging back in, of the bodies on the floor, of that… boy, I had just killed. I had fucked this up beyond belief.  
I pulled out my notes from my jacket. Where were the remaining 3 droids. Active service, factory and the last at the space port. There was no chance I could get to the one in military service, and I would leave the space port one until I had better supplies. The factory it was then.  
I pulled out the money that I had and caught a short train to the factory. It was absolutely packed on the train, and I was forced to stand wedged between two horribly sweaty teenagers on their way to a night out.  
I pressed the gun deeper into my jacket. 5 bullets left, I had to use them sparingly. I felt my way around the cold metal, it was a revolver, an old one. I spun the cylinder, clicking as it went. I stopped when someone looked my way strangely. Civilians weren’t allowed access to guns.  
The train shot across the city, until it reached the factory on the outside. It belched out smoke from its several smokestacks, covering the area in black fog. I stepped off the train, it was cold here, and it was snowing.  
I lifted my hand out and let the snowflakes fall into my hand. It was no snow, this was ash. It was raining ash from the sky itself. I pulled my jacket to me tighter and walked towards the factory.  
It was separated from the city via an enormous walkway like one at a sports stadium. It was completely empty; I was the only one there. Right then. Start the timer.  
I gave myself half an hour before they picked up the trail and found me here. There was no other way out apart from this walkway, so I gave myself 20 minutes inside. The factory had no windows, just like the hospital. It must produce the energy for the city, and I was right.  
When I walked in, I saw huge fires burning, melting great rocks and metals. The metals flowed into the ground and the heat from them was used to get energy. I didn’t entirely understand, but I guessed they had it figured out.  
All the droids manning the fires were normal ones, to find the kind of advanced android I was looking for I would have to go up into the offices at the far end. The fires seemed to go one forever in every direction. About 20 droids manned each fire, with a giant lump of metal suspended above it.  
They gave me looks as I walked past, and I caught a small tram that took you across the complex. I drew closer to the offices, they had glass windows, and overlooked the factory. The ceiling here was so high it was hard to see. But that was a mixture of smoke and height.  
I tucked my coat across my mouth to stop me from breathing it in, and got off the tram. I knocked on the door at the other end, and I was ushered inside by a helper droid. They showed me the way to the reception, and I showed them my ID. I had to hope they wouldn’t scan it, or it would come up with who I actually was. I looked kind of like the photo now, and the receptionist seemed to accept it.  
“What can I help you with today.” She said with a cheery voice.  
“I’m looking for a droid.”  
“We employ a total of 20,000 droids here, any way you can narrow down the search?”  
“I showed her the picture and the details of the android.”  
She smiled at me and paused.  
“Well you’ll be looking for Mr Roberts. Floor 12, just down to the right.”  
“Thank you miss.”  
I turned to the lift and carried it up. It was far nicer than the one back in the city, this one was designed for bourgeois.  
I knocked on the door, and I heard a muffled “Come in.”  
I entered and showed him my badge. He wore a tight-fitting suit, and looked exactly like the other android I saw. He was masquerading as a human, I wonder how that went down with his human colleagues.  
“What can I help you with officer?”  
“I’m going to need to see your files, it will only take a minute.”  
“Well I am willing to co-operate, what would be the reason?” He seemed a little flustered, and I pretended not to notice.  
“Part of an on-going investigation, I just need to see your files.”  
“Of course, I apologise for asking.”  
He led me over to his desk, and plugged himself in, I took a quick look at the files and saw no problems. I did notice something suspicious though, he had transferred an amount of money to an offshore account. Tut tut.  
“Well I see nothing in here that relates to the ongoing investigation.”  
“I hope I was of aid; the receptionist will see you on the way out.”  
I saw an opportunity here, and I took it.  
“there is the matter of the offshore account.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Don’t play dumb, you know exactly what I mean. I saw the files.”  
“well… uh… I believe we could work this out in a way that helped both of us.”  
I tilted my head to the side a little bit.  
“Are you attempting to bribe me Mr Roberts?”  
“No, of course not. I was merely insinuating that…”  
“I believe we could make this work.” I interrupted.  
“How much would it require to clear the books.” He said, not beating around the bush at all.  
“Around about 25,000 credits ought to do it.”  
“that is a large sum, but I am willing to pay.”  
“Perfect.”  
He walked over to a case, and pulled out a stack of paper. He handed it to me and smiled.  
“Thank you, officer.”  
I nodded to him and left, pocketing the money. It hadn’t been a complete waste of my time anyway. I waved to the receptionist as I left, and took the tram back across, I left with plenty of time.  
Now for the hard part, the space port.  
It was essentially a giant asteroid they had attached to the planet, and now it was used as a haven for thousands of trade ships, and countless thousands of army fighters.  
You either had to get a transport up there, which would mean passport and ID checks, I would get caught. Or you could take your own ship up, and bribe the notoriously shifty guards. I picked the latter.  
The 25,000 credits should easily cover a ship and a bribe.  
I bought a run-down fighter from a shifty backstreet dealer in the capital, and set off for the space port.  
It was a long flight from here, about 8 hours. I set the autopilot on after take-off, and I decided to get some rest. The first in a long time.  
I didn’t dream of much that night, I just closed my eyes and it all went black. I had the strange feeling that I had dreamt of something. That It was something incredible and profound that I just couldn’t quite put my finger on. I could remember glimpses of it, a great war, a victory. But I did not know who it was against, or anything else about it.  
The spaceport loomed above the planet, and I flew towards it, taking the controls once more. It was completely clouded in ships of all sizes. The majority being one-man fighters or pleasure craft, but there was a large number of freighters here as well.  
It was on an asteroid, with numerous landing areas sticking out of it, each one could fit several hundred fighters along its length. They all culminated in a huge central building, made entirely of glass. It connected to the lifts that sent things down to the planet. They were then put onto trains and shipped around the planet.  
I got there quickly, and became sandwiched in between two massive freighters, both vying for the same spot. I pulled above and went over to the far side. I landed on a small strip which was enveloped quickly by a glass bubble. A guard came over to me in uniform, holding a checklist and looking bored.  
“Name and registration please. Purpose of being here today?”  
“I come for pleasure, and I trust we can let the name and registration slide.”  
“What would give you that impression?” he asked, looking over his glasses.  
I pulled the wad of the remaining money out of my pocket slightly and indicated towards it. he looked around furtively to see if there was anyone watching.  
“Welcome to the spaceport Mr…”  
“Roberts.” I answered, giving the name of the droid, it was the first thing that came to mind.  
I handed him the money and he pocketed it. He smiled and walked off, going over to another craft that had just landed.  
Well that had worked, I wouldn’t dare show my ID here, they would run it and I would be found within minutes.  
I gave myself half an hour again, and walked along the corridor to take me to the hub. I had no chance of finding him myself.  
This place was filled with thousands upon thousands of people. There were shop keepers, selling food, or wares they had just brought in. There were businessmen making their way over to the lifts in the centre immediately. It was a huge glass dome, using huge panels kept together by large steel beams.  
I saw patrols of guards walking around, and I avoided them, lest I get recognised. I had initially planned to find him by just looking, he worked here so I assumed it would be easy. My best chance now was to get to security and ask them to run a scan.  
I saw the security offices on the far side of the dome, and made a beeline towards it. I was fighting against the tide as I went, pushing against other travellers. One of the patrols noticed me and cast me a few glances, I smiled at them and continued walking. They tipped their hats and turned around.  
There was a guard outside, and I showed him my badge and he let me in.  
Another guard sat at a desk with several screens in front of him, watching security cameras from all over the complex.  
“I’m going to need you to do a scan.”  
“Under who’s authority.” He said, not turning away from the screens.  
“The army, that’s who.” I replied, I needed this done quickly.  
“I’d need to run it past my supervisor, but I’ll see what I can do.” He began to stand up, and I pressed my gun into the back of his head.  
“Run the fucking scan.”  
“Ok, Jesus. Under what parameters.”  
I slid him the piece of paper, and he plugged in the details and the photo, the computers began to scan, and immediately came up with one result. He was a guard, working on one of the corridors.  
“thank you very much for your time.”  
And with that I left, I entered a slow jog as I left, and headed straight for the right corridor. I looked left and right at the various guards checking papers, before I spotted him down the far end.  
He wasn’t with anyone right now, and I walked right up.  
“Officer Roberts with the army, I’m going to need to see your files.”  
His eyes opened wide and he began to stutter.  
“O-of course officer, for what re-reason may I ask?”  
“You may not ask, plug yourself in.”  
He had a computer with him at his station, and he plugged himself in and I began to look through the files. I needed this to be quick, they would be here any minute. The guard must have tipped them off by now.  
I slammed my fist down on the table, goddammit. Nothing here.  
“Fuck.” I mumbled.  
“Is there anything I can do to help officer?”  
I sighed heavily.  
“No, you are free to go.”  
I put the files onto a drive like I did with the others and pocketed it. I left quickly; the guards would be on to me in seconds.  
The droid received a call, hung up the phone quickly and began calling for me. I walked quicker, as if I didn’t here, but he began to run towards me, and pulled out a gun. None of them managed to hit me, and as I weaved from side to side, I turned and hit him in the head, he went down.  
I heard screams from other people here, and soon there were a few guards chasing me. 4 bullets left. I weaved through the crowd; they wouldn’t shoot if I was there. But as soon as I ran down the corridor they started again. I managed to hit a couple, but there were too many.  
I reached my ship and I slammed the button that would let me take off. I fired the engines and took off immediately. They followed me through and managed to hit the button before I could take off. I scraped the top of the bubble as it came back down, but I flew out.  
The guards ran away and got their own ships, and followed me out. I tried to get away, but their ships were far more powerful and faster than mine. I managed to keep them away for a short while, but they quickly managed to break through the shields, and hit one of my wings. It began to crack and fizzle, and the ship began to fall towards the planet.  
With it all on the line, I aimed the ship directly at the planet, and thrust the lever forward as far as it would go. I could see the white smoke burst out of the back of the ship, as I began to move across the sky. If I had misjudged by a tiny bit, or there was a fault, I very well could go straight past the planet and keep going forever.  
For a while it seemed that exactly that would happen. I made my way parallel to the planet, there must have been a fault in the thrusters, I know I wasn’t this far off. I began to groan again, hitting my head for how idiotic I had been, for genuinely thinking I had a chance of living.  
I was suddenly thrust back against the seat, as I suddenly shot towards the planet at a speed I had never been at, at least not in something this small. I must have just caught the field, just nicked the edge of it. Well at least I had, but now I had a completely different problem on my hands. I had hoped to approach the planet at an angle, in an attempt to reduce my speed, as If I came in at an angle, I had more time when I opened the parachute to manoeuvre, as I would continue with that momentum.  
But I found myself hurtling straight towards the ground at a speed this little thing was not prepared to handle. A red light began to light at the front of the ship, as the heat shield went up, attempting to keep the whole thing from blowing up as I entered the atmosphere.  
I was being thrown about everywhere, I had my seatbelt on, but I could feel my arms, legs, and even my organs being thrown about as the pod began to spin. This literally could not get any worse, I had lost my ship, my dignity, every single person I ever knew or loved, and now I would die on this hell hole of a planet and no one would find my body.  
Yes! That was it, it was the person who wanted to survive who was in charge, a huge smile broke out on my face, as my fingers raced across the controls, trying to stabilise the ship in an attempt to regain control. I couldn’t get it to stop spinning entirely, but I got it to drastically slow down. I could see the ground getting closer and closer, and I took a deep breath and remembered my training. I switched a latch that let me access the parachute button, and as I waited for the light to turn green, my heart jumped up into my throat.  
I kept turning my head, from the button to the light, to the window. It must have turned green by now; the ground was coming up so quickly. But I trusted the computer, if I opened it too soon, I would drift too far, and then who knows where I would go. I had to open it at the lowest possible distance, so I would drift as little as possible. I had controls, but I had used all the gas up in that initial push, so I would be left to drift.  
The light went green, and I slapped the button and curled up in my seat as I braced for impact. Not by the ground, but the parachute would drastically change our speed, if it opened anyway. But surely enough, I was yanked up and then down again, as the parachute opened and I feel slower. Still quickly, but slower.  
I released the tension in my muscles and relaxed in my chair, it would be a while until the pod reached the floor, and after about 5 minutes, I braced for impact again. This one was less sudden, but came with more danger. I crashed through the high trees and landed on a branch, held up partly by the parachute caught above, and partly by the branch the ship was balanced precariously on. I couldn’t see much out the window, and any movement could send it over, so I opened the door slowly and carefully.  
“Fuck” I shouted.  
I was suspended several metres of the ground, and I jumped down from branch to branch, before hitting the floor with a thud. It gave me ground shock, and I shook my legs and winced.  
I didn’t have a ship, or any idea of where the hell I had to go. I pulled out the notes I had in the jacket, and read them again. The three droids that I had investigated had all been duds. That left me with one more. The one in active service.  
I should have done that one first, when I still had credit with the army. But if I tried to find it now, I would be arrested within seconds of showing up to the base.  
I yelled at the sky, got up and began to madly kick and punch at the trees and branches, all while yelling and screaming. I eventually collapsed to the floor onto a small mound of moss, and I breathed heavily and began to cry.  
Jesus.  
I tried to get a hold of myself but I just felt my heart rate increase, and my breathing get faster and faster. I began to feel sick, and I wanted to faint. I struggled to my feet, only for my legs to collapse underneath me immediately. I lay flat on the floor for a little bit, and curled into a ball. My head began to spin and I saw the trees above me spinning an blurring in and out of focus. I heard slight noises, voices coming from nowhere, and I tilted my head around rapidly to try and find the source of the voices, but that only made me feel dizzier. I eventually fainted, and I collapsed completely.  
I shot straight upright, and pulled out my gun immediately. I scrambled back into a corner and began pointing my gun around the room. Aiming at various different things, before finally settling on the silhouette in front of me.  
“I advise you to drop that, before you do something really stupid.”  
It was a soft feminine voice, but it was said with real menace and intention, I dropped the gun and sat back down.  
“Who are you? How long was I out for?”  
She laughed slightly and moved out of the light, she had short blonde hair, and was wearing trousers and a t shirt.  
“You were out for a couple of hours, and let’s leave the other one for a while.”  
“Look just please don’t hand me over to them, I’ll be out of your way.”  
“I don’t plan to; I’m insulted you would assume I would.”  
She cocked her head slightly, and smiled again.  
“Let’s get some food, then you can be on your way.”  
She led me into the kitchen and pulled open some cupboards, she blushed when she realised, they were all empty and filled with cobwebs.  
“Let’s go out.” She said, turning around.  
I pulled on my jacket and she led me out the door. It was a small brick cottage on the edge of a river, it was covered in vines, with a small chimney smoking at the top.  
“I’m Tim, Tim Morgan.”  
“Nice to meet you Tim, I’m Diana. I understand you’re in a little bit of trouble.”  
“I guess you could say that. I really shouldn’t be here; I think I’ll leave when we reach town.”  
“Ah, ok then.”  
She led me down a narrow passage away from the cottage, into the forest. I pressed my fingers on my gun again, and tightened my jacket, it was freezing.  
“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “You know the risks, right?”  
“I don’t really want to get into it, but let’s just say I have my reasons.”  
“I’m sorry, I just can’t trust anyone right now.”  
“Fine, is this proof enough?” She pulled up her shirt sleeve to reveal it was covered in scars, with a tattoo on her wrist bearing a number. She had been in the camps.  
“I didn’t mean to pry. I’m sorry.”  
“No problem.” She said, pulling her sleeve down again. “I get it.”  
“Get what?”  
“Not being able to trust anyone, it’s been a while.”  
“Ah.” I said quietly.  
“You don’t seem like they say.”  
“Like who says?” I asked.  
“Like the broadcast, you’re number one.”  
I chuckled slightly. “What have they been saying?”  
“that you’re an evil criminal who wants to destroy society as we know it. The usual stuff.”  
The path emerged into a clearing with the town in it, we walked along the high street, and she led me towards a restaurant. I looked around for any soldiers, but I didn’t see any.  
“What crimes do they have me under?” I asked quietly after we had sat down at a booth on the far side of the restaurant, it was quiet, so I wasn’t that worried.  
“Treason, and Murder.”  
“Pretty serious then. I’m sorry for all this trouble, I should be out of your hair soon.”  
“Its fine, and I was meaning to ask you anyway.” She paused, considering whether to come out with it. “take me with you.”  
“What, no way.”  
“Look, I read the notes in your jacket, you need to find the one in military service, no way you get that now. But I can get you in.”  
“How, you’re not army are you?” I asked with a quiet whisper.  
“No, but I have ways of doing this kind of thing.” She said, and flashed an ID badge with her face on it.  
“What? You do realise just how illegal that is right”?  
“I hardly doubt you can talk to me about crime, can you?” She asked, tilting her head.  
“Touché, but still, no way.”  
“Fine, but good luck getting in there without me.”  
I sighed.  
“Alright, why do you want to do this? There’s no reason for you to.”  
“Yeah, there is. Revenge.”  
“Do you have a gun. Because we’re not going in there unarmed.”  
“I do, stay here, order some food, I’ll bring the car down, and we can go straight there.”  
“We need to plan this out, we can’t just walk in there.”  
“yeah we can. And that’s exactly what I plan to do.”  
With that, she left. Leaving me sitting there, feeling once again like I wasn’t in control of my future at all. But at least I had someone along for the ride with me. But she could be going to get the police right now, they could be storming in here within seconds. I just couldn’t trust anyone, I had to get out.  
I wrote a small note and tucked it under the napkin, it read.  
“Sorry, but I just need to do this on my own, thanks for everything.”  
I picked up my stuff, and walked out the door. It hurt me inside to do it, and seeing those scars, I knew she had her heart in it. But the way she talked about just breaking in, I couldn’t trust someone like that. Even if she didn’t mean to, she might just let something slip, and with everything I had riding on this, I couldn’t chance it.  
I walked along the street and began to ponder how I would get in now. If I tried using my ID, they would run it and I would be arrested in seconds, if I tried to break in, they would see me on the cameras and I would be arrested in seconds. If I held everyone at gunpoint with my pathetic gun, they would just shoot me. There was no way I could get in and out alive with the files.  
“Dammit.” I mumbled.  
It was a gamble, but it was the only thing I could do. I had to trust Diana. Her card could buy us enough time to get in, get the file and get out. Getting the file was the easy part, it was getting out, and distributing whatever was on it that’s difficult. And I couldn’t do that without a card.  
I went back to the table, ordered some food and waited for her to come back. She pulled up outside in an old car, and came in.  
“Let’s talk plans then.” She said, sitting down at the table.  
“Alright then, the way I see it we have 3 options here.”  
I began to make a few brief notes.  
“1: We go in the normal way and get out the same way, using your card, and having me as your bodyguard. 2. We go in the normal way and break back out again to avoid being caught. Or 3, we get caught.”  
“Why would you want to get caught.”  
“I feel like I need to confront someone on this, whether we get caught or we capture someone, but I need some answers here.”  
She considered it for a minute, placing her chin in her hands.  
“At the moment, I would go with 1, maybe 2 if we get found out. 3. I would only use that if we fail to get the file or if something goes seriously wrong.”  
“Ok so do we just rock up there?” I asked.  
“Well we don’t want to be reckless; I would say a certain amount of backstory is needed.”  
“Ok, what did you have in mind.”  
She thought again, tried to speak a few times, but always caught herself and returned to silence.”  
“Come with me.”  
“What about the food?”  
“Don’t worry, just follow me.”  
She was completely silent all the way there, she answered no questions, and didn’t take her eyes off from the road for a second. I asked time and time again where she was taking me, but got no answer.  
The car sailed over the forests, curving around mountains and trees, we climbed higher and higher into the mountains, my eyes darted around as I tried to figure out where we were going. It began to get foggier and foggier as we moved higher up into the mountains. Below me was nothing more than a thick carpet of green. Countless trees ranged for miles and miles. It became darker and darker as we moved further away from civilisation, and before long, all I could see was lit up by the headlights. The fog meant we couldn’t see more than maybe 10 metres ahead at any time.  
She drove for about half an hour, pushing the car faster and faster, continuously climbing higher and higher up the mountainside. But there was no snow, no breaks in the green carpet beneath us. Just a continuously dense brush. I began to get colder, leaving civilisation was considered inadvisable here. With no sun, it could get as cold as up to -80 here. I looked over at the dials, it was reading -50. My breath began to fog up, and as I breathed into my hands, the glass began to freeze over with the fog.  
She wiped it away and continued, moving further and further in.  
“Where the hell are, we going. What the fuck is this.”  
“I have a plan ok. Just shut the fuck up and let me drive.”  
That was the first time she spoke, and the last before we arrived. It seemed like a normal patch of green, with a tiny clearing in the centre. She lowered the car in, moving the thick grass around as it pushed air down into it.  
The car landed in the thick grass, and she jumped out, indicating for me to follow. I had grabbed some warmer gear from the car, and we had both put masks on. The air got so cold here it could damage you to breath. But I was still cold, my hands began to hurt, and she led me into the forest.  
We trundled over logs and moss deeper and deeper into the undergrowth. It was so thick here. The trees had to adapt, as there was no sunlight here obviously. But instead of shrivelling up and dying, they turned to become more dependant on the atmosphere and nutrients in the ground. Their roots went down for miles. The trees formed a continuous wall looming up into the sky, I felt tiny.  
Some went up as high as 200 metres, and stopped all light from getting through. There was no natural light allowed, the stars and the moon were blocked out. There was no artificial light. This place was entirely pitch black except for the torches we had brought with us.  
We walked for another half an hour, she held a GPS in her hand, and was following the directions religiously. We climbed over roots, encountered the occasional clearing, but we still weren’t there. I asked again where we were going, and I was shut down in the same way. I was beginning to get so cold it hurt. My legs began to cramp up, and I asked if we could have a break, she denied, saying we were close.  
I gritted my teeth and kept walking, we walked for another ten minutes or so, before she stopped. She turned right and walked for a bit, then again and again. She was circling in on a certain place, trying to find it. But there was nothing there. It was just the same dense forest as far as I could see. Not a single building.  
She walked a little bit further before stopping suddenly and falling to her knees. She began to scrape away at the dirt, and eventually hit a metal plate. I ran over and helped her dig, dragging away at the dirt and pulling roots away.  
It revealed a small trapdoor. No more than a meter wide. It had a hatch on it, and she twisted the wheel, it clunked loudly, and echoed around the entire forest. It eventually clicked into place, and she pulled open the hatch. It was a ladder. She pointed her torch down, and it went down as far as I could see. I picked up a rock and let it fall, counting the seconds. I couldn’t hear it when it landed, or it never reached a bottom.  
“Oh shit.” I whispered. “You’re kidding right.”  
“You know what it is.” She said, looking at me with a slight smile on her face.  
“Are you insane? There’s no chance they still work.”  
“So, you’re telling me you’ve never wanted to see one?”  
“Of course, I do, but Jesus, do you even know what one it is?”  
“No idea,” she said with a grin. “only one way to find out.”  
We had stumbled on the best kept secret in the known world. She had managed to find detailed co-ordinates for a tomb.  
Jesus Christ.  
“You coming or not?” She said, going into the hole and starting to climb down.  
I took a few deep breaths and got my senses back. I couldn’t, I shouldn’t. Did I have a choice? If those things worked down there, then that was our ticket out of here.  
I considered it for a second, and followed her in, I closed the hatch behind us. We wouldn’t be needing that on the way out. As it closed, it dropped us into complete darkness. All we had now was the torches as we began the painfully long descent.  
All I heard was the metallic chiming as we went further and further down. There was not a single noise, and not a single light source. We turned our torches off to get used to the darkness, so when we got down there, we would be able to see.  
It was about 10 minutes of the same before we reached anything interesting. We reached a small room, and we hopped off inside. I could see a blurry version of the room as I looked around. It seemed to be a kind of control room. I walked over to one of the computers, and It gave me a first look of what we had come to see.  
They had buried them after the war, countless thousands over hundreds of planets. I had heard rumours about there being some here, but I never knew that they were real.  
Contained in this facility, miles below the surface, were 5 Karthian. It meant warrior in Iragun. These things were the most dangerous and powerful machines ever built, and were deemed too powerful to be used by one side after peace was signed. And all sides agreed that the best course of action was to bury them to prevent them from being used.  
I looked at the screen, and it showed me a blurry green version of what was down there. All 5 were being monitored, and I put my hand over my mouth as I looked at them. I can’t believe what she was suggesting.  
It lay on its back, arms at its side, the ceiling was just a few metres above its head and its chest practically scraped it. it seemed impossible to get it out, it was far further down than we were, and it seemed to be too far down to get out. But there was one thing about it that gave me hope.  
It was mounted on tracks, and behind it was a large tunnel that would take it to the surface. We may have been ordered to bury them, but that didn’t mean that we couldn’t have the ability to get them out again. For once, the sheer gall of the army had led to something actually useful for me.  
“You coming then?” Diana asked as she stood in the lift.  
“Yeah, just let me ask a few questions ok?”  
“Shoot.” She said, coming out of the lift.  
“Firstly, how do you even intend to get this thing running? It’s so old, and required hundreds of people to monitor.”  
“the army made a mechanism that meant that one person could boot it up in a time of need.”  
“Alright, are we just taking one, or one each?”  
“Just the one should do, one of us can go and get the file while the other holds them off.”  
“Are we just going to march in there and storm the base? We don’t even know what kind of defences they have, or where the droid is.”  
“We’ll just have to figure that out then won’t we.”  
“Seriously? You want to go up against the strongest military force in the galaxy without a plan? Even if by some chance we manage to get the file, then what. We escape in a freighter? We go on the run? I have been on the run for the past few days, and it is not easy. If we do make it out, they will hunt us to the ends of the universe until they can show our corpses on their tv screens. Do you understand the risks that you are taking here! Do you understand how stupid this is?!” I raised my voice to the point where I was yelling, and I knew immediately that I had gone too far.  
“If you don’t want to do this then don’t, there’s nobody making you.” She said, turning towards the lift. “I don’t fuck need you anyway, I could do this by myself.”  
“Look I’m sorry, but you just have to know the risks when it comes to this kind of stuff. They’re dangerous, and it doesn’t matter if what I’m saying scares you, because what they do out there to innocent people is a whole lot worse. I am going to do this no matter what, I want to see them suffer.”  
“As do I, now are we doing this thing or not.”  
“I just want to make this clear. You intend to steal a 100-metre-tall robot, in a crazy attempt to steal a single file.”  
“150 metres.” She said with a smile as she went into the lift again.  
“Are you in or are you out.” She asked, standing in the lift, pressing the hold button.  
I weighed up my options, as much of a batshit insane plan this was, it was the best shot I had, and I had always wanted to pilot one of these.  
“I’m in.” I said, walking into the lift with her.  
It was an old mineshaft lift, and I pulled the side down when I walked in. it was rusting and old, but still worked smoothly. She pulled a lever and we shot down into the earth. We fell at a great rate for about 5 minutes, I had no idea how deep we were going, but it was deeper than I had ever been. But even down here there was evidence of the world above, there was the occasional plant growing on the side, or maybe a root bursting through.  
We stayed in silence the whole way down, but I could feel the echo of my heart booming through the chambers. It slowed suddenly and came to a stop in a chamber just as dark as before. I lifted up the barrier and pointed my flashlight down. It was a corridor stretching out, and I could see a small walkway further on.  
I held my flashlight in one hand, and my gun in the other, there was no threat, but I just wanted to play it safe. The walkway led across a vast cavern that I could see no bottom to. I pointed the torch out to the side, but it wouldn’t reach far enough to let me see anything.  
“Back here.” Diana shouted as I walked across.  
She had gone into a control room, and was near a large lever that would turn on the facility.  
“once we turn that on, they know we’re here. I give us 45 minutes at the most until they arrive. Can we do this in under that?”  
“Only one way to find out.” She said, and pulled the lever down, it thanked into position at the bottom and we stood back.  
Nothing happened at the beginning, but then the lights began to turn on all around the facility. I went out into the walkway and saw various rooms around the side begin to turn on, it was far larger than I had thought.  
Finally, with a loud click, the lights for the cavern came on. Revealing the true size of this place. I saw one of the robots to my left, and another to my right. They were arranged in a circle, with a walkway in-between each one, and a control centre in the middle. I ran across, carefully holding onto the bars, it was a colossal drop, and all I could see was the steel grate between me and the drop. Each robot was swarming with wires, and was held up by a massive steel structure.  
There was a huge tunnel that started at each robots’ feet, and led on into darkness. I could only guess it would take us to the surface.  
I made it to the control centre and tried to make sense of it all, there were thousands of buttons, and countless chairs, each needing to be manned.  
Diana was still on the other side and I called out to her.  
“Come on! How the hell does this work!”  
She was frozen, looking at the chamber, I called out again. My voice ringing around the chamber, creeping into every nook and cranny of this place  
“Diana! Come on!”  
She looked dead at me and ran across the walkway. She seemed just as confused at the beginning, but made her way over to a station that worked with the AI that ran this place.  
“This should do it.” She pressed a few buttons, and they station lit up.  
“manual override, preparing to launch. Speak the password.” It said in a robotic female voice.  
She had frozen again.  
“Please tell me you know it.”  
“I don’t, I didn’t realise.” She said shakily.  
“Fuck!” I yelled. “We’re done for.”  
“Try to think. We can come up with it.”  
“Jesus.”  
She spoke various passwords, all of them denied. She sat down in the chair and began to cry.  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise.” She said, head in her hands.  
“Operation dark sun.” I spoke clearly.  
It processed it for a second. Then spoke.  
“Password accepted.” If they didn’t know we were here then, now they did for sure.  
“How did you know that?” She asked, wiping away the tears.  
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s go”  
It presented us with a selection of the robots, which one to launch.  
“Which one?” She asked.  
I looked at them all briefly, and settling on what looked to be the most powerful. “Soldner.” It was painted a dark green, and stood at a mighty 160 metres tall. It came with all the bells and whistles, it was coated in guns and missiles, it had a sword as well, if you ever needed one.  
“Soldner.” I said. “Boot it up.”  
She pressed a few more buttons, and it started a sequence. We ran over to the side that had Solder on it. Its head was already facing us, and we climbed the ladders up the side of the control building, and followed the walkway across to the bridge.  
We climbed the ladder down, and it led us into the eye, and closed behind us.  
“Who’s piloting?” I asked.  
“I guess we don’t have much of a choice. You’re army and I’m not. I also have the card through the facility. You pilot, I’ll get the file.” She said, strapping into a passenger seat at the back.  
“Alright then, take this.” I showed her the picture and handed her my gun.  
She took the picture, but pulled out her own pistol from her jacket.  
“Thanks, but your guns shit. Now go suit up.”  
I walked over to the suit in the corner and undressed, she looked away, and looked over the notes.  
It was a tight fitting suit, and held tight to my body. I put gloves and boots on, and clicked my fingers. The system came online and my hands and feet became covered in holograms, analysing size and strength, and adjusting accordingly. I put the helmet on the head, and stepped into the centre.  
“Welcome captain, ready to launch?” the computer spoke  
“Go ahead.” I said, and it slowly moved across the cavern, before we shot down the tunnel. It was lifted upright, and since the room was on a gyroscope, it rotated, leaving us upright perfectly. I was on a kind of treadmill that could move in all directions, and the holograms meant that I would feel everything the robot felt, a lost limb, a shot, or an explosion.  
The glass that was previously opaque suddenly became clear, giving me a 180-degree view of the area. We shot upwards, and within seconds we reached the top.  
It placed me on a platform and I stepped off it onto the ground. It hid itself immediately, and it seemed as if there was no hole at all. I raised my fists up and the robot’s fists followed immediately. I could see a hologram on the left of my sight that showed me a list of weapons I had.  
Just to test it out, I pulled a punch and slammed it into a tree that stood next to me. It shattered instantly, and fell to the floor.  
“Oh, I am going to enjoy this.” I said, grinning.”  
I plugged in the co ordinates of the base, and began to run. The trees were still above me, but some were smaller, and I was ducking and weaving constantly. I was going faster than our car; I would get there in no time.  
The robot shuddered the surrounding area with every stride, causing birds to turn and fly away, and breaking roots beneath my feet.  
It felt smooth, there was no weight, I was just running normally on the treadmill, and the robot followed. It was seamless, there was no delay, it was instant.  
I was impressed it continued to work after all this, it had been almost 50 years since the war, when it had been buried. They must have maintained it well, if they made it this easy to get them up and running again. They must have planned all along to bring them back. Scheming bastards.  
I ran further and further, not feeling tired at all. I emerged at the top of a hill with the base beneath me. It was surrounded by huge walls, and was swarming with ships. There were tanks, and thousands of soldiers on the ground. They were all assembled, and facing directly at me.  
I saw an option on the screen and smiled.  
“Fancy some noise?” I asked.  
“What”? Asked Diana  
Suddenly throughout the entire valley, emanating from the robot, came a deafening noise. It was an ear-splitting yell, as the mouth of the robot opened and yelled into the sky.  
“What a way to announce our arrival.” Diana said sarcastically, I didn’t respond.  
A voice came over the speakers from the base. It was the commander.  
“You still have a choice to turn away, or we will be forced to destroy your mech.”  
I spoke as well.  
“Oh no way. There is some revenge to be had.”  
I leapt off the mound and slammed into the floor, shaking the foundations of the very mountains themselves. I stood up to face the force that had been assembled.  
“Fire!” came the voice again.  
The entire force of the army was released, hitting the mech squarely. Many warning signs came on, and I began to scan for options. I pressed shield, and the robot presented one of its arms, and a body height shield emerged. I began to press forward, slowly moving into a run. I would sort out the ground forces first, then I would handle the rest.  
I was soon sprinting towards them across the plains, holding the shield up as I went. I lifted the shield as soon as I reached them and began to fire at everything I could see. I raised both hands, dropping the shield and began to duck and dive. I was huge, and I crushed the tanks between my feet, I tried to avoid the soldiers as best I could, they couldn’t really do anything.  
Tanks erupted into flames, and soldiers poured out, I fired missiles at the cannons that were pointed at me and they too exploded. The mech automatically shot at anything that shot at me, and it began firing at some of the ships in the sky.  
The dark sky lit up with explosions like fireflies. Had it not been for all the deaths that were being caused, it would have been beautiful. I didn’t want to do this; I had never wanted to kill anyone in this whole situation. But they had forced my hand. This was the army’s fault.  
They fell like flies, but I was taking some serious damage, and there was plenty more to come. I scanned the options again, and went with a combination of 2.  
The mech leapt into the air, as high as it could go, and then fell quickly and I slammed my fist into the ground, it sent out a huge shockwave and shattered the floor, sending the nearby cannons and tanks flying and scrambling the electrics for the base.  
The generators came on instantly, but for a brief second they were down. That meant that for a brief second, no matter for how long.  
“Go!” I yelled, and ejected Diana  
She was holding a massive gun, and shot out of the doors into the sky. She opened up a parachute and quickly fell towards the base. I saw her land and run inside, gunning down a few guards before doing so.  
I kept up the fight, managing to destroy a large number of the forces. It was almost too easy. There was no real fight here, there was no chance that they could pierce the armour of the mech with what they had here. They just couldn’t.  
My prediction was sadly right, and before I knew it every single sensor in the whole mech began to blare loudly. Telling me that something massive was coming up behind me. I managed to turn in time, and tried to dodge whatever it was, but I was too slow.  
The fist connected perfectly with my face, and I fell straight backwards into the ground. I tried to get to my feet, but a foot fell onto my chest.  
There were so many alarms going off I could barely think, the screen was broken, and open to the air now. If I sustained a headshot now, I was gone.  
It was my worst fear.  
Another mech.  
Even bigger than mine, standing at maybe 200 metres, but I couldn’t tell from down here. The foot splayed across my chest and began to crush me.  
“give up the fight here, and maybe we can work out a deal.”  
Jesus. It was the commander in there.  
I tried to wriggle free of his grasp, but he just pressed down harder, and I heard the shrill shriek of steel bending beneath it.  
I lifted up my right arm weakly, pretending to punch only for it to be batted away by the other foot. There we go. I raised my left and fired a missile into its chest, it stumbled backwards, enough time for me to get free.  
We circled for a short while, he was far larger than me, and I looked up at him, casting a shadow over me using the moons and stars.  
He pulled out a mace, and I responded with the sword. I guess we were doing it that way.  
He slowly started, and lunged towards me, and brought the mace down on my head, I easily dodged. He was larger and stronger by far. But I had the advantage of speed.  
We circled again and he tried the same thing again. But once the mace hit the ground, he punched me in the side, and I staggered sideways. Before once again, positioning myself.  
I tried to attack this time, but my strength was shot and the sword didn’t go deep into his side. He slammed his fist down on the sword and it shattered. Leaving me with a broken hilt that I cast aside.  
I jumped backwards, trying to keep my distance, if he had the advantage before, this fight was pretty much rigged now.  
He lunged time and time again with the mace. But I kept my distance, firing missiles and bullets at the head in an attempt to break the glass. But nothing worked.  
If he wanted to win right now, all he had to do was fire one missile into my head and I was gone. But he was toying with me, he wanted to make a show of this.  
“Everything all right out there? I’m just getting the files now!” Diana yelled over the radio.  
“currently fighting another mech and losing badly, all A-OK out here.”  
“Jesus, I’ll be out in a few!”  
We continued to circle for a few minutes, and nothing came of it.  
“come here you fucker!”  
He lunged madly and slammed the mace down onto the ground. I stamped on the chain and it snapped. Finally. Now it was almost an even fight again.  
He came straight out on the offensive, throwing a punch to my head that I managed to dodge. This was where I would thrive, I had trained for hand to hand combat for years. It may not show physically, but I had the strategy down.  
I drove up into his ribs, and he retreated backwards.  
I raised my fists, and slowly walked towards him, he punched again, and this time I kicked his legs out from underneath him.  
He scrambled to his feet and retreated once more; he was waiting for me to go on the offensive. I did so.  
I moved towards him quickly, and faked a shot to the head, and drove again into his ribs. He hit me hard in the face, as I failed to protect my head and I staggered backwards.  
He came on the offensive, and got in a few good shots, but I managed to block most of them. I pushed him away, I wanted this over, I was in a great amount of pain.  
I walked towards him, and lunged to the left, making him go right, kicked his foot out from underneath him, and as he placed his hand on the floor to stand back up, I nailed a shot right to his jaw. He went down, and he would not get back up.  
The whole mech crumpled and collapsed. But it wasn’t quite over. I brought my foot up and slammed it into the head. It began to break, but I needed to do it again. I brought my foot down multiple times until the whole head was flat. It was over.  
I collapsed the mech to its knees, and then to the ground. I ran out and over to the other mech to see if the commander was still alive. I carried a gun with me, you could never be to careful.  
I’m glad I had brought one, the commander opened fire with a pistol, shooting madly at me. I took cover behind a bit of wreckage and began to fire around it.  
I managed to hit him in the hand and he dropped the pistol. I ran out and put my gun to his skull before he could reach for the pistol again.  
“please. Just give it up.”  
“do you honestly think you can change anything by doing this. That something will happen because of what you’re doing here?”  
“yes.” I said, and fired the gun into his head.  
I felt no mercy then. There was no consideration for him as blood spurted from his head and he slumped backwards.  
Blood began to seep from the area, and he lay still. I was still breathing heavily, and the adrenaline of the fight was still coursing through my veins.  
I turned and saw Diana running towards me, her gun in hand. Yelling at me to move.  
I turned around, but once more, I was too late. And the bullet entered my chest before I could react.  
I folded, and Diana shot the soldier, and he too collapsed like the commander.  
Diana came running in and rested my head on her lap, and tried to apply pressure to my chest.  
“C’mon, we got to transfer you over from this body. We got to get to the base.”  
“No.”  
“What, c’mon let’s go.”  
She tried to lift me up, but I resisted and fell again.  
“Tim don’t do this; we have to go now.”  
“I’m good, this is it for me.”  
“What the fuck are you talking about Tim.”  
“I’ve lived a hundred lives, and taken a countless hundreds more. I’ve had more than my fill of life.”  
She paused, not quite knowing how to react, I didn’t blame her.  
“Did you get the file?” I asked weakly.  
“Yeah, I got it, we have to do this together! Please just get up.”  
“What’s on it?” I asked.  
She teared up more, and answered.  
“They were going to start another war. Using the mechs again, on this drive is enough information to put all of them away, and collapse the entire system.”  
“Good, you make sure of that ok?”  
“Yeah Tim, sure.”  
“Diana?”  
“Yeah Tim?”  
“Bury me in that forest ok. I liked it there.”  
“Of course, Tim, of course.”  
She wasn’t crying anymore; she had already come to terms with it. she was strong. Stronger than me.  
“Keep talking.”  
“What about?”  
“Anything, I don’t mind.”  
She paused slightly, and then spoke in a smooth and calm voice that did not fit this battlefield.

The blackbird shifts from foot to foot.  
Looking for his meal.  
But what will happen to the bird  
When the lifeblood disappears.

The life and soul of the forest  
His feathers black, they be not bright  
He gazes up above him  
Into the dark and glorious night.

The blackbird flies off away from this world  
His soul now free as his mind  
For the blackbird worries not  
About the troubles of the man


End file.
